Rh Incompatibility

My husband and I are waiting until next year to start TTC but I have major baby fever and have been researching like mad.

My blood is Rh- and it is very likely that my baby’s will be Rh+ as that is what my husbands is.

I had a misscarriage a while back and I am fairly certain I was not given a Rogham(sp?) shot at that time but I do recall the nurse telling me about the Rh factor and that I would need a shot with any future pregnancies. At the time I had never even heard of the Rh factor and did not know enough to ask questions or insist on a shot at that time but she made it sound fairly routine.

Will it be enough to get the shot early on in my pregnancy or will I already have the antibodies that may harm my baby?

What are the risks invloved and how likely are they?

I am freaking out a little, has anyone been in this situation? Please help!

Sounds like the danger is increased for the 2nd pregnancy and while I am not certain that a non full term pregnancy would have you build as many antibodies, it would probably be better to get the shots early. You don’t share blood with a baby for the first few weeks, so if you find out you are pregnant and get a shot right away you should be fine. (I am not a medical professional, but it’s a good guess based on my reading and understanding).

“If Rh incompatibility is diagnosed during your pregnancy, you’ll receive Rh immune globulin in your seventh month of pregnancy and again within 72 hours of delivery.

You also may receive Rh immune globulin if the risk of blood transfer between you and the baby is high (for example, if you’ve had a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or bleeding during pregnancy).”

So, if your first pregnancy wasn’t rh + then you wouldn’t have received rhogam, they do testing early to check and see if there will be an issue. I would talk with your provider about your concerns when you start TTC again.

@MapleCreekBride: I’m currently pregnant and also Rh-. What I gathered from my DR is that it’s only a risk for a 2nd pregnancy if your body interacted with Rh+ blood from a previuos pregancy. I wouldn’t worry too much about it but I would def speak to your DR before TTC so you can have a better grasp on things. I haven’t done so yet but I will definitely do the same before DH and I try for baby #2.

@chasesgirl: Yeah. Maybe the one I misscarried was Rh negative as well and that is why I was not given the shot.. I only wish I had known enough to ask at the time or that the nurse had explained it to me better.

@MapleCreekBride: If you’re Rh negative and had a miscarriage, you should’ve gotten Rhogam (and you may have, possibly even if you were asleep for a D&C). But frankly, the fetus doesn’t really start making blood cells until the second trimester, so the odds of you being sensitized are low.

In your next pregnancy, your doctor will do normal screening tests for normal pregnancy stuff, and will also pay attention at your ultrasounds to see for signs if the baby is anemic. If it is, then there’s a chance that it’s due to Rh sensitization, and they will monitor and treat that accordingly. But otherwise, they’ll give you Rhogam at 28 weeks and at delivery (unless you have any bleeding or trauma, in which case they’ll give you additional doses).

I would just talk your doctor about all this. Rh negative status isn’t that uncommon, so he/she will be used to dealing with these concerns. Don’t worry about it until you have something to worry about. Good luck!

I’m sorry I missed that he is Rh+ that’s in the original post. I would call your car provider now or tmrw to find out for sure…. Things i’m reading online seem to point to you should have gotten one as a precaution.. but it doesn’t mean that you forsure built antibodies.. especially if the miscarriage was early and the baby’s blood never got into yours. but if its causing you anxiety, call and talk to your doc or another OB… but stay off google cause you can hear to many horror stories!

@gpsp2B: haha too late!! I have been reading about it all afternoon and really freaking myself out! But i know that is probably not necessary I may not even have anything to worry about. I will wait until I know for sure and then freak out later if I need to ;P

@ZoeyGirl: Thats true, maybe they did give me the shot and I just dont know about it because if the nurse mentioned the Rh thing to me it is obvious that they checked for that and Im sure that if it was necessary they would have then given me the shot. I need to settle my kettle LOL!

How far along were you when you miscarried? Baby doesn’t make blood cells before 8 weeks. So the shot would be useless before then. Had I known this I would have declined mine. I’m Rh- but will be double checking with the next blood tests just to be sure. I had a horrible flu like reaction to the rhogam shot and would love to avoid it if possible.

I read a LOT about this because my blood type is also AB- and I wanted to know. From what I understand, the risk is only posed when the baby’s positive blood could come in contact wih your negative blood. This is why you get the shot within 72 hours of delivery as well. They often don’t necessarily automatically give the shot with a first baby because the immune system needs chance to develop antibodies before it can actually attack a fetus.

Make sure you talk to your doctor before your next baby, and they should be able to keep you safe during your pregnancy!

i understand your worry, I spent a lot of time worrying and wondering and fretting about this before discovering my SO is also RH- (recessively, his mom, dad and only sibling are all A+) it’s a scary and stressful situation but with proper medical care, you should be able to have a normal and healthy pregnancy!